Recent viewings

[3mnkids]

The white ribbon(Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte)~ Strange accidents start happening in a small German village... well, it is a very good movie if you can sit through it. Its very, very slow moving with large blocks of time where really nothing is happening but a little bit of dialogue. I don't mind heavy dialogue movies, I prefer them in fact, but this was.. wow, it was slow.

That being said, it was beautifully shot in B&W, the acting was great and the story was interesting.. I didn't get the "message" of the film really. maybe it would have helped to be German? anyway, its an interesting movie worth a one time watch.

The Fall~~ I watch this at least once a month.     every time I see it I'm amazed at how great the little girl is and how stunning the movie looks.

[lester1/2jr]

sun seekers (1958, rereleased in 1972 after being banned by the commies for some reason) -  what a shame.  this movie had unbelievable potential: 1. it features a cute indy looking (dirty looking, basically) girl in the lead. 2. it's foreign and in black and white. 3 it is communist and features anarchists and former nazis. and hookers.  and with it's setting in a uranium mine it ALMOST has a sci fi element which might have made it the film geekiest movie ever made.  There is a great movie in there somewhere but it just doesn't come to the surface.  All the scenes with the girl are great.  She looks sort of like Chloe from "24" but alot less quirky.  Unfortunately , what can you say, the filmaker just isn't that good.  There are alot of european in jokes that most people, namely me, won't get and alot of foolishness involving the mine and peopel who are not the girl who I didn't care about.  I bet a gifted editor could re cut it and make it good. It's possible.  Otherwise it will remain totally obscure. too bad.

[InformationGeek]

Iron Jawed Angels: We are watching this in U.S. History and I really enjoy it.  I like the depiction of the events of Women's Suffrage and how inspiring it is to see what they went through.  Lots of good acting from some recongizable actresses and very well written script.  The music is bit whacky though and one of the students watching it, said, it sounded a couple of times like repeative and insane drumming.

[SkullBat308]

Time Crimes- I am going to have to watch this again.....

[hellbilly]

Alien 3000 (2004) - There's an invisible monster living in a cave, and he's got gold - like a pirate's treasure:  Gold goblets, swords, etc.  Why would an invisible monster have gold?  Is he saving for retirement or something?  For that matter, why is this movie called Alien 3000, since it has absolutely nothing to do with the future or anything related to the number 3000?  Anyhow, every idiot in the area goes into his cave and tries to steal his gold, only to be torn apart in some comically over-the-top CGI sequence.  Ah, but then there are the biggest idiots of all, and they recruit some psychic girl from a mental institution, who has foreknowledge of the creature's activities (this is never explained at all) to help them.  A couple of these people are straight off the Jerry Springer show - extremely loud, vulgar, infantile, and far beyond idiotic.  Yadda yadda yadda, they almost all wind up dead, add on a cheap "Will there be a sequel?" ending and you're done.  It had a few moments of laugh out loud bad movie brilliance, but for the most part it was a real chore to sit through.  2/5.

Nice to see you got a few laughs out of it, so it wasn't a total waste.
Alien 3000's stupidity never stops to amaze me :)

[lester1/2jr]

ninja checkmate-  not as good as I remembered.  really far too much early jackie chan type martial comedy.  The martial arts are good but a little non descript.  I liked one scene where the ghostface killer (called that because he turns up only to kill people and is rarely seen, not because he has an actual ghost face) fights a guy who's using a staff.  Also liked the cute chess girl.  Not bad but you could do a lot better. 2.5/ 5

[Rev. Powell]

The white ribbon(Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte)~ Strange accidents start happening in a small German village... well, it is a very good movie if you can sit through it. Its very, very slow moving with large blocks of time where really nothing is happening but a little bit of dialogue. I don't mind heavy dialogue movies, I prefer them in fact, but this was.. wow, it was slow.

That being said, it was beautifully shot in B&W, the acting was great and the story was interesting.. I didn't get the "message" of the film really. maybe it would have helped to be German? anyway, its an interesting movie worth a one time watch.

I'm curious about this movie, it won the Grand Prix at Cannes and everyone's being tight-lipped about the plot, leading me to believe there's a big twist in it.  Tell me, 3mnkids, was it weird, by any stretch?

As for the message I gather from the reviews that it's supposed to have something to do with the roots of fascism in Germany... so maybe it does help to be German. 

[Rev. Powell]

Catching up...

SATAN HATES YOU: Remember that name, this is one that a lot of people here are going to want to see when it comes to DVD.  Two devils try to tempt two mortals---a promiscuous drug-abusing teenager and a violently homophobic alcoholic---into eternal damnation, until their Christian friends rescue them.  It's an attempt to remake a Christian scare film, and it plays almost exactly like a Chick tract brought to life.  It's the kind of movie where the drug dealers play dungeons and dragons in the front room, while their womenfolk stay in back brewing up witches potions.  It doesn't take too many cheap shots at religion, and offers some very likable Christian characters to offset the crazier ones.  Inspired by movies like IF FOOTMEN TIRE YOU, WHAT WILL HORSES DO? Very unusual, I can't say I've ever quite seen something exactly like this before.  The very cool cast includes Angus Scrimm, Reggie Bannister, Michael Berryman, and Debbie Rochon in small roles.  3.5/5.

MR. SADMAN: When he’s scarred in an assassination attempt on the eve of the Kuwait invasion, a mute Saddam Hussein body double with no skills or interests beyond impersonating the Iraqi dictator loses his job and moves to Los Angeles to start his life over.  An uneven indie comedy/satire, but the late Al No'mani gives a wonderful performance that carries the film, investing his silent character with a surprising amount of humanity and making the audience really care for him.  This doesn't have a distributor yet and it's only available for download from the director's site (do a Google search if interested).  2.5/5.

GREASER'S PALACE: A zoot-suited messiah parachutes into a Western town, performs miracles and boogie-woogie songs, and gets crucified.  A string of subtle, absurd sketches hanging off a loose New Testament storyline; one of the more bizarre movies you're ever likely to see.  Herve Villachaize plays a dwarf who lives with a transvestite.  Working on a long review of this one.  3.5/5. 

[3mnkids]

The white ribbon(Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte)~ Strange accidents start happening in a small German village... well, it is a very good movie if you can sit through it. Its very, very slow moving with large blocks of time where really nothing is happening but a little bit of dialogue. I don't mind heavy dialogue movies, I prefer them in fact, but this was.. wow, it was slow.

That being said, it was beautifully shot in B&W, the acting was great and the story was interesting.. I didn't get the "message" of the film really. maybe it would have helped to be German? anyway, its an interesting movie worth a one time watch.

I'm curious about this movie, it won the Grand Prix at Cannes and everyone's being tight-lipped about the plot, leading me to believe there's a big twist in it.  Tell me, 3mnkids, was it weird, by any stretch?

As for the message I gather from the reviews that it's supposed to have something to do with the roots of fascism in Germany... so maybe it does help to be German.  

no twist really and I wouldn't call it weird. although, it has moments of uncomfortable silences that were weird to me.  This is one of those movies that is open to interpretation I think. Haneke does not spoon feed the audience anything. I thought I knew fairly early on what was going on but when it was over? Im not so sure. Its definitely a movie that you will sit back when its over and analyze it.
It also has a scene that is so heartbreaking, so vicious ,I was shocked.

[Sister Grace]

The white ribbon(Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte)~ Strange accidents start happening in a small German village... well, it is a very good movie if you can sit through it. Its very, very slow moving with large blocks of time where really nothing is happening but a little bit of dialogue. I don't mind heavy dialogue movies, I prefer them in fact, but this was.. wow, it was slow.

That being said, it was beautifully shot in B&W, the acting was great and the story was interesting.. I didn't get the "message" of the film really. maybe it would have helped to be German? anyway, its an interesting movie worth a one time watch.

I'm curious about this movie, it won the Grand Prix at Cannes and everyone's being tight-lipped about the plot, leading me to believe there's a big twist in it.  Tell me, 3mnkids, was it weird, by any stretch?

As for the message I gather from the reviews that it's supposed to have something to do with the roots of fascism in Germany... so maybe it does help to be German.  

no twist really and I wouldn't call it weird. although, it has moments of uncomfortable silences that were weird to me.  This is one of those movies that is open to interpretation I think. Haneke does not spoon feed the audience anything. I thought I knew fairly early on what was going on but when it was over? Im not so sure. Its definitely a movie that you will sit back when its over and analyze it.
It also has a scene that is so heartbreaking, so vicious ,I was shocked.

I always thought this was about the loss of innocene and perhaps that was the message behind it.

[3mnkids]

Sister Grace~ I think that was part of it for sure. Not just the kids either. The entire village lost something.

My recent viewings..

The red Shoes(Bunhongsin)~ A woman finds a pair of "red" shoes and becomes strangely attracted to them. People start fighting over them, dying for them....    

Rarely does a movie make me feel stupid and even angry for wasting my time but this one did. When it was over I just sat there and said.. I should have my F&*%$#@ head examined for watching that garbage..

Its like a couple of guys were in the editing room and one said to the other..hey, that doesn't go there, its much later in the movie. The other guy responds with... it doesn't matter! I will show one of the many scenes of flickering lights, zoom in on the "actress" when her eyes get really big, show something freaky that doesn't make sense at all and voila! on to the next scene.. people will LOVE it.

uh, but don't we need to have a story that is easy to follow along? I mean, you cant have a person in the hospital, in a coma like state, and then bam! next scene they are home and appear to be ok. That doesn't make sense right?

oh, it doesn't matter. These movies aren't supposed to make sense. We will just show lots and lots of blood and people will forget about the hospital thing.  

And did I mention the shoes? well they arent red. could not even be mistaken for a light shade of red. They are pink. Barbie shoe pink. yea, im a little p**sed off I wasted my time on such utter garbage. ugh.

[JaseSF]

Life Stinks (1991): Mel Brooks plays a millionaire who is tricked into taking a bet that he can spend a month on the streets as a bum.

This one susprised me. It has fairly low ratings overall but I actually really enjoyed it. It features a rich man (Mel Brooks) who for the first time in his life has to deal with people on real, down to earth personal terms. On the streets shockingly enough, he for the first time comes to learn the value of true friendship and love. The portrayal of street life may not be fully realistic but the film actually does delve into some of the terrible hardships involved. It's not quite a funny as most of Brooks other films but it does have some great moments of humor here and there. I also enjoyed the crane battle between Brooks and Jeffrey Tambor's villain character (I've always liked Tambor from his previous TV efforts) where dinosaur roars are used. Rudy De Luca as "J. Paul Getty" tends to steal the film from time to time. **1/2 out of *****

Clerks II (2006): Dante and Randal are back, this time working at a drive-thru called Moobys after the Quick Stop burned down. Once more Dante gets caught up in a love triangle.

I actually liked the first Clerks. film. That film seems truly original and its characters, while unusual, seemed a bit true to life. Every since then, Smith seems to have been trying to reduplicate his initial success with the first Clerks. film but to no avail. Practically everything he's done since has been garbage and this is certainly no exception. It just goes all out trying to offend everyone possible and it just ends up being an unbelievable convoluted mess. Cut out all the shock shlock and a good film might have been lurking here underneath, albeit one almost identical to the first Clerks. film. Sadly as it is, I find it more unwatchable than The Beast from Yucca Flats and The Creeping Terror combined. Actually those films were unintentionally funny. With this movie, there's very little actual humor to be found. Unless you find beastiality funny that is. UGH!! One of the worst movies EVER!! * out of *****

[Jack]

Stargate:  The Ark of Truth (2008) - This is of course based on the Stargate SG-1 TV series.  A group of baddies called the Ori have built a fleet of spaceships and are going to invade our galaxy.  The members of the SG-1 team are sent to the Ori galaxy to stop them, hoping to find and utilize an ancient piece of technology called the Ark of Truth, which will make all the baddies realize the error in their ways.  This was a good, straightforward sci-fi action movie, with likable characters and plenty of special effects.  It plays out exactly like a bigger budget episode of the TV show, which was somewhat disappointing.  There's really very little to set it apart from the typical season finale fare.  All the same plot elements are here, used in exactly the same way:  Ori, replicators, ancients, a corrupt government official, etc.  Still, good fun and a worthy waste of 90 minutes.  I don't know if it would be very accessible to anyone not familiar with the TV show however.  4/5.

[hellbilly]

Blue Money (1972)

Movie about a 25 year old guy working in the adult film industry as a director. There is some R-Rated porn at display and lots of talk. Other than that there isn't very much happening. A bit of domestic drama, one police bust and dreams of making a living. Not bad but not great either. 3/5

[JaseSF]

The X-Files: I Want To Believe (2008): When a female FBI agent goes missing and a psychic is the only lead and hope of finding her, Fox Mulder reluctantly gets drawn back into the FBI fold and Dr. Dana Scully even more reluctantly gets dragged into the investigation along with him.

My expectations for this were fairly low. I was pleasantly surprised. In many ways, this plays out like a slightly better than average two-parter series episode. It has some good mystery and surprises and doesn't take viewers down quite the path they might have been expecting. It also treads very close between real-life crime drama and its more fantastic elements with a fine line between the fantastic and the possible. Most fascinating though is watching the evolution of the characters as Scully and Mulder have been affected greatly by their past X-Files involvement and it shows here in more ways than one. Not great but quite good and entertaining especially for fans of the show. *** out of *****